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200 MONTAIGNE'S ESSAYES
legs, and perfectly represent the motions of his course:
the same is a hare without bones, without haire.
Venantumque canes in molli tape quiete,
Iactant crura tamen subito, vocesque repente
Mittunt, et crebras reducunt nartbus auras,
Ut vestigia si tencant inventa ferarum:
Expergefactique, sequuntur mania soepe
Cervorum simulacra, fugoe quasi dedita cernant:
Donec discussis redeant erronbus ad se. 1
Oft times the hunters dogs in easie rest
Stir their legs, suddamly, open, and quest,
And send from nosthrils thickc-tlncke snuffing sent
As if on traile they were of game full-bent:
And wakened so, they follow shadowes vaino
Of Deere in chase, as if they fled amaine:
Till, their fault left, they turae to sense againe.
Those watching-dogs which in their sleep we sometimes
see to grumble, and then barking, to startle
snddainly out of their slumber, as if they perceived
some stranger to arive, tliat stranger which their minde
seemeth to see is but an imaginane man, and not perceived,
without any dimension, colour, or being:
Consurta domi catulorum blanda propago
Deqere, soepe levem ex oculis volucremque soporetn
Discutere, et corpus de teria compere instant,
Promde quasi ignotasfacics atque ora tuantur,²
The fawning kind of whelps, at home that liv's,
From eyes to shake light-swift sleepe often striv's,
And from the ground their starting bodies hie,
As if some unknowne stranger they did spie.
Touching corporall beautie, before I goe any further
it were necessarie I knew whether we are yet agreed
about her description. It is very likely that we know
not well what beautie either in nature or in generall
is, since we give so many and attribute so divers formes
to humane beautie, yea, and to our beautie: Of which
if there were any naturall or lively description, we
should generally know it, as we doe the heat of fire.
¹ LUCR. 1. iv. 986. ² Ib. 993.